Under the Tuscan Sun (or rain): Florence and part 3 of our vacation
There is quite a lot to say for Florence. Florence is the birthplace of the Italian renaissance. was a nice respite after the touristy city of Rome. We hit up the Uffizi the first day after booking reservations. There we saw Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Allegory of Springtime. You really have to sift through the religious iconography to find something truly stunning. Not that the religious iconography isn’t stunning, mind you, but it not necessarily my cup of tea. There was also Rembrandt’s Self Portrait and Portrait of an Old Man. However, many rooms were closed off and you just had to pop your head in to see them. Not the best museum design if you ask me.
Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, which is the fourth largest cathedral in the world.
We then went to the Academia where we saw Michelangelo’s David. He was huge and I stood in awe for a couple of minutes. The museum didn’t hold much else that we wanted to spend our precious moments in Florence in, so we left. Then we wandered. We checked out the Ponte Vecchio, the only bridge in Florence to survive WWII. We popped into a few stores to check out the latest fashions and wanted all leather goods in the markets. 
We also saw Piza. We had some great weather and were able to eat pizza ouside after we took some conventional holding up the tower photos. I really enjoyed Piza. Even though there wasn’t that much to do, the shops were cute, the pizza was delicious and the weather was unmatched. Once back in Florence, we took a bit of a climb to Michelangelo’s Peak, which offers a great lookout over the city. Once again, we arrived just in time to see the sunset. Afterwards, the hostel offered some great respite. We took a dip in the pool, caught up on the Internet and played some pool. I want to go to Florence again just to stay there again.
We woke up early and were off again… rounding out the trip with Venice. We took the train, dropped off our bags and headed to St. Mark’s Square. We didn’t plan too much there since we only had a day there. We walked into St. Mark’s Basilica, where the entire church was composed of elaborate mosaics. Simply gorgeous. Then we visited the Doge’s palace and saw the golden staircase and some elaborately decorated rooms by Veronese and other Italian artists.
Afterwards, we got lost in the winding streets of Venice. We bought lots of Moreno glass, which were fairly inexpensive and absolutely gorgeous. Some of the shop owners were really sweet. We kept walking over Rialto bridge and through more winding streets until we got hungry and paid way too much for some pasta. Once again, never order off the tourist menu. We had our last gelato of the trip and took a waterbus back to our hostel.
On the waterbus to the bus to take us to the airport, I realized just how amazing this experience has been. Yes, it was a pricey trip, but I had such a lovely time. I have never seen so much recognizable art. I saw those places that everyone talks about. Now my eyes won’t glaze over when people have that conversation about their European adventures. I will have my own memories tied to each of these places. Before we left, we toasted over some Tuscan wine that someday, we would return.